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Think you're ready to become a restaurateur? Starting your own restaurant can be overwhelming and is accompanied with a lot of tasks and responsibilities. As with any business, opening a restaurant is no easy task and can get stressful. The idea of owning a restaurant is great. However, starting a restaurant from the scratch and running it is a humongous task.

The following are a few things to know before starting your own restaurant.

1. Have a Concrete Business PlanA business plan will outline your restaurant concept and the details on how you plan on making it a profitable business. As you research information for your restaurant business plan, you may encounter problems you hadn't considered previously, such as licensing, health codes and tax laws. Be very sure about your concept, as that helps decisions about menus, décor, restaurant equipment, location, and more. Market research is essential. Learn what financial performance to expect and have a plan to reach your sales projections. Importantly, one must know how much funding is needed to start the restaurant.

2. Choose the Perfect Location

A restaurant's location is as crucial to its success as great food and service. While choosing your restaurant’s location, it is a good idea to identify your competitor in that area and gauge their success. The competition needs to be gauged not just in terms of cuisine, but also the type-casual dining, fine dining, QSR, etc. The restaurant should be located at a place where it is easily visible as well as accessible.

3. The Fine Art Of The Perfect Menu

Of course, you want to hire an excellent chef. But there’s more that goes into planning a restaurant menu from a business perspective. Plan your menu with an eye toward taste — and profit! You might want to take some time to check out what your competition is offering. If you want to serve pizza, for example, you will want to see how you can make your pizza better, or more unique. Your menu should include dishes that customers are familiar with but have a new twist.

4. Decide on a Clear Restaurant Conceptand USP

The first step in opening a new restaurant is deciding what type of restaurant it is going to be. Before you move onto step two you first need to define what kind of restaurant you want to open. Once you have decided the concept, you must decide the theme and cuisine of your restaurant. The interiors must be in sync with the theme of your restaurant. In today’s world of extreme competition, project life cycles are getting shorter so it is important to think long-term. This embeds the need for a unique selling point that gives a differentiating advantage for the years to come. Competition eventually might copy the idea but the first mover advantage is always long-lasting.

5. Manpower Needed to Start a Restaurant Business

Hiring the right talent and retaining them is one of the biggest challenges while running a restaurant business. Hiring the right chef is extremely important for your restaurant as your food is what’s going to attract your customers. You must also remember to train your staff not only about their job but also in communication and etiquette.

6. Licenses Required for a Restaurant

You need to acquire licenses from the government to run a restaurant business. The cost of obtaining these licenses varies, depending on the size of your venture. It is advisable to apply for the licenses early, as they may take a lot of time to be approved.

7. Choose the Perfect Name

Be creative and pick a name that embodies your concept, your menu, and your mission. Select a name that is easy for customers to remember and spell. Select a name that is easy for customers to remember and spell.

8. Never be Cheap Where Guests are Concerned

Make sure you spend as much money as possible on the guest experience. Spend money on the people already in your restaurant, because that’s the best way to generate genuinely positive word of mouth. The most important money you will spend is money that adds value to the guest.Determine a percentage of your revenue to put into improvements that affect the guest and constantly enhance their experience.

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